Bottle seal cutter



NOV. 1941. T, F, MILLER l 2,261,729

BOTTLE SEAL CUTTER Filed Feb. 27, 1940 Z' WLM. Jrg M i BY /Z v" ATTRNEYS.

W/TNESS.'

Patented Nev. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PAT-@ENT` OFFICE 2,261,729 v BOTTLE SEAL CUTTER. Y

Theodore F. Miller, New York, N. Y. n Application February 27, 1940, serial Ne. s214149 I (ol. 30e-2) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a bottle seal cutting device which will be found useful by bartenders or other dispensers of bottled liquors or beverages in the perfomance of their duties for the opening of bottles from which beverages are dispensed, and the device will also be found useful for home use in the kitchen, cocktail room, and other like places where sealed bottles may be opened.

One of the important features of the invention is to provide a seal cutter for cutting a foil or composition seal which is present over the corked end of certain bottled beverages.

Other features of the invention reside in a bottle seal cutting device which is simple and inexpensive of manufacture, rigid of construction, and which has ample space appropriate for advertising indicia, should a business concern wish to distribute the article with an advertise-v ment contained thereon.

Other features of the invention will appear as the following specification is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective View of a combination article embodying my bottle seal cutting device, the same being mounted on a support and illustrating a towel held by the towel clamp.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical transverse sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 with the towel omitted, and illustrating a, bottle having its stopper seal cut by the cutter, and illustrating in dotted lines, a cap being removed by the bottle cap remover.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of thel knife blade clamping plate.

Figure 5 is an end elevational view of the blade clamping plate.

Figure 6 is a plan View of the metal blank from which the body of the article is constructed.

Referring to the drawing by reference characters, the numeral I0 designates a combined bottle cover cutter, bottle cap remover, and towel holder in its entirety, and which includes a boxlike body I I preferably constructed from a single blank of bendable sheet metal designated A in Figure 5, but the body may be made of molded material if desired. The metal blank A is cut and bent to form the body II, and includes a front wall I2, side Walls I 3-I 3 which are bent rearwardly on the downwardly -converging dotted lines I 1 -I4. The free side edges I5-I5 of the sidewalls I3-I3 converge downwardly with respect to the lines of bend III-.I4 so that by look- 55 at its` top,

.of the flange 28.

ing at the front and sides of thebody II, the same is slightly tapered from top to bottom. Formed integralwith the side walls I3--I3v are rectangular shaped ears IB-I having key-hole shaped slots I'I-I'I therein. The ears lli-I6 are bent inwar-dly at right angles to the side walls I 3-I3 on the dotted lines I8-I8, and which dotted lines are in alinement with the edges I5-I5. When the ears lli- IB are bent inwardly yat right angles to the side walls I3-I3, they are disposed substantially parallel to the front wall I2 and have their vertical 4edges inV meeting engagement as illustrated in Figure 3.

rearwardly from the rear. edge of the slot so thatthe free edge of the tongue engages beneath the lower edges of the ears I6I'6 so as to reinforce the rear edge of the slot for reasons to be hereinafter appreciated. The tongue portion I9 after forming the inclined bottom wall 20 is extended downwardly in `a plane substantially in alinement with the rear Vedges of the side walls I3-I3 and the lower edges of the side walls are cut to a shape to meet and provide a closed joint between the side and bottom walls. The lower end of the tail portion I9 terminates in an elongated spring clamp 23 which has its free lowery of the drawing. Fitting against the inner side.

of the front wall I2 is a knife blade 29 which may be in the form of a safety razor blade and which has its cutting edge 30 disposed above the plane Fitting against the blade 29 and coacting with the front wall I2 to clamp the blade in position, is a clamping plate 3| which extends the width of the front wall and has an inwardly extending horizontal flange 32 the flange 32 being in alinement withv the flange 28. A fastening screw 33 freely passes through an opening 34 in the front wall I2 and through an opening 35 in the knife blade, the shank of the screw engaging a threaded opening 36 in the clamping plate 3|. The knife blade 29 spans the width of the notch 26 as illustrated in Figure 1. The clamping plate 3| has spaced inwardly extending teats 39 adjacent its lower edges which extend in the direction of the front wall l2 with which they abut whereby the top portion of the clamping plate is forced into tight engagement with the knife blade 29 when the screw 33 is tightened.

The article I6 is intended to be mounted on a vertical wall or other vertical supporting structure such as shown at B. Two horizontally alined screws 3'I are threaded into the supporting structure B with the heads disposed in spaced relation to the wall structure, which permits the rear side of the body I I to be fiatly fitted against the wall structure with the heads of the screws passing through the enlarged portion of the keyhole shaped openings I'I-I'I. After initially positioning the article to the wall structure, the body II is shifted upwardly vto cause the heads of the screws 31 to overlie the restricted portions of the keyhole shaped openings, and in this position a fastening screw 38 is passed through the opening 25 and screwed into the wall structure B. With the article I secured to the wall structure B in the manner just described, the towel clamp 23 presses against the wall structure, and as shown in Figure 1, a towel T may be inserted between the clamp and the wall structure and be supported in a depending manner.

It is the practice of bottlers of spiritous liquors to apply a foil or a tough composition seal over the cork end of a bottle, and which type of seal necessitates the use of a knife or other sharp implement to break the seal before removal of the cork or stopper is possible. In Figure- 2 I have illustrated in full lines, a portion of a bottle C having a foil or tough composition seal D applied to the neck end of a-bottle and enclosing the stopper or cork E. To facilitate breaking of the seal D, the bottle C has its neck inserted into the notch` 26, and the joint between the mouth of the bottle and the head of the stopper or cork E is alined with the cutting edge of the knife blade 29. By pressing downwardly upon the neck of the bottle and at the same time turning the bottle right or left to cause it to engage one of the walls 21 of the notch, the seal may be cut circumferentially in alinement -with the joint between the head of the stopper and the mouth of the bottle. The flanges 32 and 28 vact as a rest for the bottle during a cutting operation and also limit the depth of the cut made by the cutting edge 36 of the knife blade. With the seal severed circumferentially at the joint between the head of the stopper and the mouth end of the bottle, it

is possible to grasp the stopper and manually pull it from the bottle.

To facilitate the removal of the crimped metal cap of a soda or beer bottle, the capped end of the bottle may be inserted into the slot 2| in the manner illustrated in dot and dash lines in Figure 2, wherein F represents the neck of a bottle and G the metal crimped cap. The bottle is inserted so that one edge of the cap G is engaged with the front wall of the slot and the top of the cap bears against the braced bridgewallll of the slot. With the bottle inserted in this manner, the operator may press downwardly upon the bottle F and effect a forcing of the cap vG therefrom. The cap is not torn from the bottle but a portion of the crimped edge is spread apart which releases the cap from the bead of the bottle neck, thus avoiding the danger of breaking the neck during a cap removing operation. By opening a bottle by a downward` stroke, it is possible to prevent spilling of the contents of the bottle as the cap is pulled therefrom, for the bottle is moved from a substantially horizontal position to a substantially vertical position. In view of the fact that the cap G of the bottle F fulcrums against the rear vedge of the slot 20, the bottom wall and the rear edge are reinforced by the upwardly extending tongue 22 which braces against the under edges of the ears I6I6.

This combined article may be manufactured for good-will advertising purposes, and in such event the front and sides of the box-like body I I, the portion I9, and clamping tongue 23, may contain advertising indicia as shown in Figure 1 of the drawing.

An article of this kind will be found exceptionally useful behind bars over which beverages from bottles are sold with the advertising indicia facing a. customer, for it is possible to cut the seal of the bottles, and to remove metal caps from beer bottles, soda bottles, and the like, without resorting to knives and other sharpv instruments which might cause injury to the hand of an operator. The clamp 23 facilitates the supporting of the towel T which must be conveniently located for frequent use by the dispenser of bottled beverages, and does not scratch nor mar the wall or other supporting structure..

The tension of the clamp may be regulated by loosening or tightening the screw 38.

In the event that the cutting edge 30 of the knife blade 29 should become dull, the screw 33 may be removed, the dull blade discarded, and a new sharp blade substituted therefor.

While `I have shown and described what I conlsider to be the most practical design and construction of my invention, I wish it to be understood that such changes as come within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to if desired.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a box-v like body open at its top, means by which said f body may be rigidly secured to a wall structure,

the top of the front wall of said body having a notch therein of a width to receive the sealed neck end of a bottle, and a knife blade attached to said body and having its cutting edge extending above the plane of the bottom wall-of said notch against which the neck end of a bottle may be placed and the seal thereon -circumferentially cut by imparting a complete rotation to the bottle.

2. An article of manufacture comprising a body having a front wall and side walls, means for attaching the body to a supporting wall structure with the rear of the side walls fitting against a wall structure to space the front wall therefrom, the top of the front wall having a notch therein of a width to receive the sealed neck end of ay bottle, a knife blade mounted upon the inner side of the frontl wall and having its knife edge extending above the plane of the bottom wall of the notch,whereby a bottle hav-l ing a seal over the cork end thereof maybe placed within said notch and against the knife edge and the bottle turned to cut the seal circumferentially therearound.

3. An article of manufacture comprising a body having a at front wall, and rearwardly extending side walls, means for attaching the body to a supporting wall structure with the rear edges of the side walls fitting thereagainst, a notch provided in the top of the front wall, a horizontal flange extending outwardly from the front wall at the bottom of said notch, a knife blade positioned against the inner side of the front Wall with its cutting edge rising above the plane of the horizontal ange, a clamping plate tting against the knife blade, a horizontal flange eX- tending inwardly from the clamping plate in horizontal alinement with the ange on the front wall, a screw freely passing through alined apertures in the front wall and said blade and having threading engagement with a threaded aperture in said clamping plate, the horizontal anges serving as stops for limiting the depth of a cut made by the cutting edge of the knife blade when an article to be cut is brought down against the cutting edge.

THEODORE F. MILLER. 

